Refrigerator car



Nov. 17 ,/1925 1,562,078 P. B. cAMP REFRIGERATOR GAR Filed June '7. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 87 .$8 .Je T 1 i 'f1 1 #jf ,3f r

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' nyenor: Percg. (ktm/i Nov. 17, 1925.

P. B. cAMP REFRIGERATOR UAR VFiled June v. 192s Inventar:

Patented Nov. 17, 1925.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT. oF-FICE.

BERCY B. CAMP, lOFVMIAYWOOD, ILLlNQlS, ASSIGNOR TO UNIVERSAL DRAFT GEAR ATTACHMENT COME'ANY A CGRPORATON OF ILLINOIS. l

t 1 v REFRIGERATOR CAR.,

\ Application filed June 7,

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, PERCY B. Carri), 'a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Maywood, county of Cook, and StateV of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerator Cars, of which the following is a specification and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a pai't thereof.

This invention relates to refrigerator cars of that type in which ice is employed as the refrigerant, and the invention relates more particularly to valve mechanism and arrangement for discharging the fluid from the ice tanks provided for said cars.

The Master Gar Builders rules require that no brine or water be discharged along the right of way between icing stations, 'from tanks employed on refrigerator cars. The principal objects of this invention are the provision of new and improved valve mechanism Vand operating means therefor for meet-ing this requirement, that are simple in construction, rcheap ,to manufacture, easily assembled or disassembled, that is efficient in operation and that will not likely get out of order.

Other objects of the invention are the provision of new and improved means for connecting the valve stem to the valve; new and improved valve operating mechanism; and the provision of new .and improved means whereby the necessity of employing packing about the yvalve stem t0 prevent thev escape of brine along the same, is eliminated.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a portion of a railway car showing the iicing tanks in position therein, with the invention applied thereto, parts being in section and A' parts broken away; d

Fig. 2 is a section on line22 of Fig. 1, parts broken away;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectionof the valve operating mechanism showing the lever in elevated position;

Fig. l1 is al side elevation of the valve assembly and operating 'mechanism with parts in section and parts broken away;-

FigL 5 is vertical section of the valve as- 1923. Serial No..y 643,958.

sembly and operating mechanism and portions of' the refrigerator tanks, parts being broken away;

and

Fig. i is a plan view of the operating lever and associated mechanism.l

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the reference nuineral`10 designates a railway car in which thel refrigerator tanks or ice receptacles 11,12, 13 and 14 are suitably secured as being mounted on the loor 15. The roof of the car is provided with hatchways 16 locatedl above and in cominuiiicatioii with two of the tanks. These liatchways are closed by suitable covers 17. The liatcliways 16 are preferably tapered toward their lower ends and plugs or closures 18 are adapted to be forced downwardly against the walls of the hatchways to form air-tight closures for the saine. Y The tanks or receptacles are usually arranged in pairs and are located at the ends of the car.- The tanks at each end of the car are `pi'eferably'in communication with each other as by suitable conduits or passages. Suitablevalve mechanism is provided for permitting the discharge ofthe water from the tanks from time to time. `l/Vhile I have shown only one valve arrangement for this purpose, it is to be understood that the com. struction may be otherwise. As shown, this valve mechanism comprises a valve casing orhousing 19 (see Figs, t and' 5) having laterally extending inlet openings or ports 2O and 21 and a downwardly discharge opening or port 22. Suitable pipe or con-y duits 23 and 221 secured in the inlet openfV ings `2O vand 21 areadapted to be secured in Fig. 6 is a section on line 6 6 of Fig; t; y

suitable openings vvin the adjacent tanks 13 and i4, whereby the tanks are placed in;

communication with the said valve casing. The casing 19 is provided with a valve seat 25 extending about the discharge opening. A. valve member 26 provided with the usual gasket. 2f? is adapted to engage the valve seat 25 for closing said =discharge opening. rThe valve is operated by the stein 2S whie'h is detachably connected to the valve meinbei in a manner that will now be described.

Valve member 26 provided with aV laterally extending `open-ended recess 29 across which extends a partition pro vided with a slot 3() forming the ledges 30a. The lower end of thevalve stem 23 is provided with an attaching member 31. The member 31 is provided with a restricted por tion or neck 32 which is adapted to enter the slot 30 and interlock said member 31 with the valve member 26. In the operation of the device the enlarged portion or head 33 of the attaching member 31 engages the ledges 30a for lifting the valve and engages the bottom of the recess 29 for closing the valve. connecting` member 31 may be inter-locked with the valve member and disengaged therefrom by relative lateral movement of said members.

The use of a valve requiring packing about the stem thereof to prevent the escape of fluid from the container on which the valve is used is objectionable because of the friction between the parts and loss of fluid when the packing becomes worn or otherwise defective. Suitable means are l provided for eliminating these defects. In

the form of the device chosen for illustrating one embodimentof this feature, a tube 34 is secured to the casing 19 as by Ybeing' connected to a cap 35 which in turn is suitably secured to the upper end of said casing. The tube 34 extends upwardly about the valve stem 23 to approximately the tops of the tanks. The tube 34 is of suit1 cient diameter to permit the stem 23 to move freely therein.

Suitable means are provided for opening and closing the valve. As shown, an anchor member or plate 36 provided with upwardly extending flanges 37 and 38 having vertical slots 39 and 40 therein, is provided with a depending flange 4()n for engaging about the upper end of the tube 34. Plate 36 may be secured'to the frame member 41 by any suitable fastening means. The plate 36 is provided with an opening 4()b directly above the tube 34 whereby said tube may be removed through the same. A lever 42 -is provided with trunnions 43 and 44 for engaging in said slots 39 and 40 respectively.

The outer end of the lever 42 may be bifurcated and is provided with a bolt or cross member 45 extending across said furcations. If desired the cross member l5 may be extended to each side of the lever to form the trunnions 43 and 44. The upper end of the stem 28 is provided with a return bend 46 for detachably engaging the member 45. The member 36 is provided with a stop element 47. The outer end of the lever 42 is provided with curved lateral extensions 48 which are adapted to slide along the lplate 36 and engage the stop '4T when the lever is movedl from the full line to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 4.

The valve 26 is normally held on the`seat It will thus be observed that the,

25 by means ofthe pressure of the liquid within the tanks supplemented by a spring 49 which engages about the reduced upper end of the valve 26. The spring 49 not only tends to maintain the valve in closed position, but it also serves the purpose of maintaining the valve and the attaching member in assembled relation during the operation of the valve.

It will be observed that by movingthe lever 42 upwardly past center to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 4, the valve will be opened and the position of said lever will be such that the spring will hold the lever in its upper position. It will also be noted that by detaching the hook or return bend 46 from the cross member 45 thelever 42 may be removed. 1t will be further observed that the valve 2G is materially smaller than the passage within which it operates. By this arrangement a certain amount of rust and sediment on said valve will not interfere with the operation of the same.

lhen it is desired to inspect the valve the cap 35 is detached from the casing 19 and the tube 34 raised upwardly through the opening 40" a suiiicient distance to permit the.- spring 49 to be disengaged from the upper reduced portion of the valve. The stem 28 may now be moved laterally to disengage the same from said valve, after which the valvev may be removed for inspection, replacement or repair. YIf desired the stem 28 may be removed upwardly through the tube 34. n

A pipe 52 connected inthe discharge opening 22 is adapted to conduct the water' from the tanks into a drip pan 53 located below said tanks. A nozzle 54 permits the discharge of the water collected in the drip pan. l f

It is thought from the foregoing taken in connection with the accompanying drawings that the construction and operation of my device will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and that various changes in size, shape, proportion and details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, a railway car provided with a tank support, a plurality of tanks mounted on said support, a conduit for connecting said tanks, said conduit being provided with a single discharge port, an inwardly opening valve in the bottoni wall of said conduit, and means in substantial alignment with the axis of said valve and extending to the top of said tank for operating said tank.

2. Incombination, a plurality oftanks, a connecting conduit between said tanks, an inwardly opening valve in said conduit, a valve stem extending inte said conduit for lili operating said valve, and a tube extending about said valve stem for preventing the escape of iiuid from said tanks.

3. In combination, a valve seat provided with a port, a valve for enga-ging said seatto close said port, a valve stem and means for interlocking said valve to said stem by a relative movement thereof and resilient means for locking said stem and valve in assembled relation and for holding said valve on said seat.

t. In combinat-ion, a receptacle adapted to contain a iiuid, a valve casing associate-d with said receptacle, a valve in said casing, a tube connected to said casing and adapted to extend above the normal level of the fluid within said receptacle, a valve operating member extending through said tubedor operating said valve, a lever for operating said member, and a plate mounted above said receptacle for supporting said lever, said plate being provided with an opening through which said tube may be removed.

5. In combination, a plurality or" tanks 'for containing a iiuid, a valve housing hava discharge and two inlet openings, said inlet openings in communication with said tanks, a valve for said discharge opening, said value being provided with an upwardly extending stem, the pressure of said 'fluid tending to hold the same in closed position, a drip pan, means engaging said stem for opening said valve, and a conduit for conveying said fluid from said discharge opening to said drip pan.

6. In combination, a plurality of tanks, discharge mechanism for said tanks, said mechanism including a valve, a. spring for closing said valve, a stem extending to the upper portion ot said tanks, and means connected to said stem for operating said valve, said means including upwardly exten-ding flanges having vertical slots therein, a lever provided with trunnions Jfor engaging said slots, means for connecting said stem to said lever between the ends thereof and a stop plate, arranged laterally oi said slots, the outer end oii said lever being adapted to engage said stop plate for holding said valve in open position against the tension of said spring. y

7. In a refrigerator car, the combination of a pair of tanks, for containing a liquid, a communicating conduit between said tanks, a valve casing secured to and in communication with said conduit, a discharge conduit, a valve loosely fitting in said casing and opening in the opposite direction from said discharge conduit whereby the pressure of the liquid within said tanks will tend to maintain said valve in closed position and means extending upwardly through said conduit for lifting said valve for ope-ning the same.

8. In a" refrigerator car, a. plurality of tanks, a valve casing provided with a discharge opening and having inl-ets in communication with said tanks, a valve provided with a recess having a slotted ledge therein, for closing said opening, a tubular member detachably secured to said casing, an operating lever, and a valve stem within said member, the lower end of said stern being provided with an enlarged head for engaging beneath said slotte-d ledge-tor operating said valve andsa-id upper end being provided with a hook for engaging said lever. f

PERGY B. CAMP.

lCertificate of Correction.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,562,078, granted November 17, 1925, upon the application of Pero-y B. Camp, of Maywood, Illinois,` for an improvement in Refrigerator Cars, errors appear in the printed specification requiring` correction as follows: Page 2, line 126, claim 1, for the Word tank read @al/ve; page 3, line 29, claim 5, for the Word Value read valve; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same nia-y conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 19th day of January, A. D. 1926.

[SEAL] WM. A. KINN AN,

' Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

